Wednesday, April 28, 2010

These are our finished mosaics from a class we took at Full Spectrum Art Glass. We finished by taping off the frame and using black grout…that kind you can buy at the hardware store to lay tile…to grout in around all the glass. Once the grout was pushed into all the areas, we cleaned it off with old newspaper instead of sponges and water. The was much less messy, but did take way longer to complete.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I frequently visit a site called Digital Photography School. They have all kinds of good information on photography, gear and editing. They also have weekly challenges and I’ve decided to try to do some of these. This weeks challenge is “B&W 10-minutes From Home”. The idea is that you go exactly 10 minutes from your house via foot, bike or vehicle and take a black and white picture. This shot is exactly 10-minutes east of my house via car. That is Pikes Peak in the background.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Although we have owned this kiln for a year or so, we have never fired it before…didn’t have anything to fire. So <insert drum roll>, we did our first bisque firing to Cone 04 yesterday. It took 4.5 hours, which is pretty good. A bisque firing is the first firing that heats a piece of greenware (dried clay) until it’s solidified. It is now called bisque ware and will be fired again once it’s glazed. I fired a vase, bowl, a couple ‘things’ a neighbor girl made and a bunch of glaze color tiles.

The tiles were low fire clay and once glazed will be fired at the same temperature as the bisque fire and will then be considered earthenware. The vase exploded (not quite bone dry when put in the kiln). The 2 bowls are high-fire clay and will be heated at a much higher temperature (Cone 6) once glazed. They will then be considered stoneware.

Earthware is not as durable as stoneware and is usually used for flower pots, etc. It is still porous and will leak if not glazed. Those cute coffee cups that chip real easy are usually earthenware. Stoneware is much more durable, is not porous and does not require glazing to hold liquids. It can also be heated, so most ovenware and often used items are stoneware.

I just started pottery in February and am learning as I go, so I’m sure there is much more detail I do not yet know and many different ways to do the different steps…I post what I know. :-)

Friday, April 23, 2010

I used some more of the marbled paper we made at the March Craft Party to create this card. I did not add a sentiment to keep it open for any occasion. The vase, dragonfly and hummingbird are Michael Strong stamps. I stamped the images in Chipped Sapphire and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks then sprayed them with Arctic Blue and Peppermint Stick Glimmer Mists. I sprayed white cloth flowers with Turquoise Blue, Cranberry Zing, Lavender Fields and Candlelight Glimmer Mists. I did a light misting of Arctic Blue Glimmer Mist to the card base before adhering all the elements.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Bo, Jill and I took a class yesterday to create a 5x7 glass-on-glass mosaic ‘suncatcher’. We created our own designs and cut our chosen glass colors into little bit…then it was just a matter of gluing the little pieces to the glass. Next week, we will grout it and it will be done.

Mine

Bo’s

Jill’s (I took a bad picture of it…it’s really pretty when the photographer does a good job!)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

A couple months ago, we marbled paper for our craft party. I put the paper somewhere and couldn’t find it. Well, I finally figured out that I had put it under a laptop box to flatten it…and I finally moved the laptop box. I decided to make a quick card with some. I have the Bear Silhouette stamp from Stampabilities and wanted to use it, so I made a card for a guy. I used some of the marbled paper as a background and drew in pine tree silhouettes with a Bic Mark It in Woodsy Brown. I used a copper leaf pen to add a border and attached the bear (which I stamped onto white cardstock in Adirondack Ginger dye ink and cut out) with Pop Dots. I stamped the sentiment from the The Journey collection by Tim Holtz onto a similar piece of marbled paper and gave it a rough copper border. I told you it was a simple card.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

I finally had time…and clay…to throw for the first time on my new pottery wheel. All went well, and I was able to center really easily on this wheel…which is a huge plus. I ended up with a bowl and vase…out of 4 throws…throw one I torqued and the other I just didn’t like.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

I bought a Pacifica GT-800 pottery wheel off Craig’s List today. Now, I just need to get some clay…apparently, there is a shortage in the Springs right now. Yes, that’s my DHs Prowler in the background…sure hope I don’t sling a bunch of clay all over it. :-)

I also had the winning bid on these map cabinets (2 stacked) from the city of Colorado Springs. I’m using them for stamp/paper/embellishment storage. The wooden cabinet I had was too small and couldn’t take the weight of all the stamps. One day, I may just paint it white…but I don’t see that in the immediate future. :-)

Saturday, April 3, 2010

We received some of our finished pottery pieces in last nights class. I had a couple coffee cups that I was really excited about that ended up being more of an espresso size. Clay shrinks will drying and firing…which I didn’t know when I threw these cups. Jill had three pieces that came out really beautiful (they are on the table). She is holding a piece that didn’t survive the drying process. As long as the clay has not been fired, it can be reconstituted and used again…so the only loss is time. :-)